Tag: Region Americas

Panama deports Ecuadorean migrants in second US-backed flight

Panamanian authorities deported a group of migrants to Ecuador on a second flight financed by the United States, as part of an agreement between the U.S. and Panama to discourage irregular crossings and reduce the flow of mostly U.S.-bound migration.The flight carrying 30 Ecuadoreans departed on Thursday evening en route to the coastal city of Manta, Ecuador, Panama’s migration service said, adding the migrants were deported for evading a migration checkpoint on the popular Darien Gap route. Thousands of people…

Telegram Founder Pavel Durov Charged With ‘Wide Range of Crimes’ in France, Barred From Leaving

Pavel Durov, the entrepreneur who founded the online communications tool Telegram, was charged on Wednesday in France with a wide range of crimes related to illicit activity on the app and barred from leaving the country.It was a rare move by legal authorities to hold a top technology executive personally liable for the behavior of users on a major messaging platform, escalating the debate over the role of technology companies in online speech and the limits of their responsibility. Mr….

French authorities arrest Telegram CEO Pavel Durov at a Paris airport, French media report

The founder and chief executive officer of the messaging service Telegram was detained at a Paris airport on an arrest warrant alleging his platform has been used for money laundering, drug trafficking and other offences, French media reported Sunday. Pavel Durov, a dual citizen of France and Russia, was arrested at Paris-Le Bourget Airport on Saturday evening after landing in France from Azerbaijan, according to broadcasters LCI and TF1. Investigators from the National Anti-Fraud Office, attached to the French customs…

Telegram Founder Pavel Durov Arrested in France

Pavel Durov, founder of the free speech-focused app Telegram, was arrested in France on Saturday allegedly as part of an investigation into his platform for not having enough “moderation.” POV: It’s 2030 in Europe and you’re being executed for liking a meme https://t.co/OkZ6YS3u2P — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 24, 2024 From Reuters, “Telegram messaging app CEO Durov arrested in France”: Pavel Durov, billionaire founder and CEO of the Telegram messaging app, was arrested at the Bourget airport outside Paris on…

Latvian national extradited to US for illegal exports to Russia

A US press release has announced the extradition of Oleg Chistyakov, a Latvian national. Chistyakov has made his first appearance in federal court in Kansas, accused of conspiring “to facilitate the sale, repair and shipment” of US-origin avionics equipment” for use in Russian aircraft. Many of the customers Chistyakov’s supposed scheme shipped to are on the US Commerce Department’s Entity List. Chistyakov allegedly conspired with 2 US citizens, Cyril Greogry Buyanovksy and Douglas Edward Robertson. Both Americans have already pleaded…

Justice Department Announces Civil Rights Investigation into Conditions at Tennessee’s Trousdale Turner Correctional Center

The Justice Department announced today that it has opened an investigation into the conditions at Trousdale Turner Correctional Center, a Tennessee Department of Correction facility operated by the private correctional management company CoreCivic. Trousdale Turner, located approximately an hour outside of Nashville, is Tennessee’s largest correctional facility. Based on an extensive review of publicly available information and information gathered from stakeholders, the department has found significant justification to open this investigation, including state audits that have flagged dangerous understaffing and…

Harvey Weinstein will remain locked up in New York while awaiting rape retrial

Harvey Weinstein will remain in custody in New York while awaiting retrial on rape and sexual assault charges in Manhattan, prosecutors confirmed Monday as the former movie mogul made a brief court appearance related to California’s request to extradite him there. But after the New York case is complete, he will return to California to serve his pending 16-year sentence for a separate rape conviction there first, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said in a statement. “Today, defendant Harvey Weinstein…

Shooting at a gathering in Baltimore leaves 1 dead and 7 others wounded, police say

BALTIMORE (AP) — A shooting at a gathering in Baltimore has left one person dead and seven others wounded, police said. It appears that “multiple people opened fire” just after 8 p.m. Sunday in east Baltimore, Police Commissioner Richard Worley told reporters. The shooting broke out on a block near a park but was not confined to a small area, police said. “Officers located multiple victims as well as multiple firearms on the scene,” Worley said. A 36-year-old man died…

Canadian among 6 people missing as yacht sinks off Sicilian coast, Italian Coast Guard says

One man died and six people were missing after a luxury yacht was struck by an unexpectedly violent storm and sank off the Sicilian capital Palermo, the Italian Coast Guard said on Monday. The 56-metre-long sailboat, which was British registered, sank with 22 people on board shortly before sunrise, the coast guard said in a statement. The missing people were of British, American and Canadian nationality, the coast guard said. “The wind was very strong. Bad weather was expected, but…

Russian law enforcers probe into actions of US journalists in Sudzha — MFA

The following article is from a Russian news source, Tass, which is controlled by the Russian Government. MOSCOW, August 19. /TASS/. Russian law enforcement agencies are studying the circumstances related to the actions of journalists of the US daily The Washington Post in Sudzha, the Kursk Region, Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has told TASS. Earlier, The Washington Post newspaper published an article about the situation in Sudzha, saying that its reporters had entered the territory of the Kursk Region…

George Santos due in court, expected to plead guilty in fraud case, AP source says

Former U.S. Rep. George Santos is due in court Monday afternoon, where a person familiar with the matter has said the New York Republican is expected to plead guilty to multiple counts in his federal fraud case. The person could not publicly discuss details of the plea and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. Santos and his attorneys did not return requests for comment. The case has been set to go to trial early next month. The…

Former Banker Asante Kwaku Berko Extradited from UK for Bribing Ghanaian Officials

A dual citizen of the United States and Ghana will make his initial appearance today in the Eastern District of New York to face charges related to his participation in a scheme to bribe Ghanaian officials to obtain and retain business from the Republic of Ghana. Asante Kwaku Berko, 50, was extradited yesterday from the United Kingdom to the United States. According to court documents, between December 2014 and March 2017, Berko, an executive director in the Investment Banking Division…

Minnesota Republican Tayler Rahm drops out to clear path for Joe Teirab in competitive US House race

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Republicans got a straighter path to potential victory Saturday in what is expected to be Minnesota’s closest congressional race when GOP-endorsed candidate Tayler Rahm dropped out of a primary fight against the better-funded Joe Teirab, who already had tacit backing from key House leaders. Rahm, a political newcomer and defense attorney, said in a statement that he was shifting gears to serve as a senior adviser to former President Donald Trump’s campaign in Minnesota, where Trump insists…

Abbott faces trial over claims Similac formula caused dangerous disease

(Reuters) – Similac baby formula maker Abbott is expected to face a trial on Monday over claims that its formula for preterm infants used in neonatal intensive care units causes a potentially deadly bowel disease, the second trial out of hundreds of similar lawsuits in the United States. Lawyers for the company and for Illinois resident Margo Gill will make their opening statements to jurors in St. Louis, Missouri, and the trial is expected to last most of the rest…

Massachusetts State Trooper Michael Proctor “relieved of duty” after Karen Read mistrial

A judge declared a mistrial in the murder trial of Karen Read, the Massachusetts woman accused of drunkenly driving into her police officer boyfriend and leaving him to die in January 2022, in a case featuring accusations of a vast police cover-up and investigative misconduct. And the state trooper who helped lead the investigation – a man who admitted on the stand that he’d sent sexist and offensive text messages about the defendant to friends – was relieved of duty…

Puerto Rico sues former officials accused of corruption to recover more than $30M in public funds

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico’s Justice Department announced Tuesday that it is suing at least 30 ex-government officials accused of corruption to recover more than $30 million in public funds. Among those sued are three former legislators, including María Milagros Charbonier, who was sentenced in May to eight years in federal prison after being found guilty of theft, bribery and a kickback scheme. “We are going to recover the Puerto Rican people’s money and claim an amount…